INSEAD ETA and Search Funds Podcast

In September 2019, Tiago Paixão and his partner began searching for a business in Portugal. Six months later, COVID brought the process to a standstill. Then, unexpectedly, the deal they thought had disappeared came back to the table.

We caught up with Tiago Paixão, co-CEO of Teclena Juncor and co-founder of Zinc Capital, to explore the journey from search fund to industrial distribution platform. After acquiring Teclena in 2020, Tiago and his partner built a buy-and-build strategy across Portugal and Spain, ultimately creating a broader platform through acquisitions, integration, and disciplined execution before a strategic sale to Dexa.

Tiago has experienced almost every stage of the ETA journey: fundraising across the US and Europe, acquiring during the pandemic, raising debt in an undeveloped market, merging businesses, expanding across borders, executing an exit, and returning to the ecosystem as an investor through Gallium Growth.In this episode, we cover:

• Why Tiago and his partner believed the search fund model could work in Portugal at a time when the ecosystem was still in its early stages.
• How COVID unexpectedly reopened the door to their first acquisition — and why timing and luck matter alongside preparation.
• The challenges of financing a search fund acquisition when more than 15 banks were approached and a near-final debt offer was withdrawn.
• How to manage sellers, investors, lenders, and advisors simultaneously when a transaction is moving under intense time pressure.
• The logic behind Teclena Juncor’s buy-and-build strategy, built around scale, complementarity, and becoming a one-stop shop for industrial customers.
• What the team learned from merging companies, locations, systems, processes, and cultures in Portugal before expanding into Spain.
• Why moving from command-and-control leadership to autonomy, incentives, KPIs, and accountable management was central to building a scalable business.
• What the strategic sale taught Tiago about timing, alignment, and creating value for buyers, investors, employees, and founders.
• Why aspiring searchers should research the model deeply, speak to people who did not succeed, and be certain they are ready for a life-changing commitment.

What does it take to turn a local search fund into a regional platform - and what can operators, investors, and searchers learn from building through one of the toughest operating environments imaginable? 

We caught up with Nicolas Lulli, managing partner and co-founder of Colca Capital, the first institutional search fund in Peru. After starting his career at Goldman Sachs in New York and later joining Relay Investments as its first employee, Nicolas went on to co-found Colca Capital in 2019 and acquire Polisus Stemas, a records and information management business in Lima, at the height of COVID. What followed was a remarkable transformation: a zero-to-tenfold turnaround, seven acquisitions, a second fund, and a growing regional platform across the Andean market. 
What makes this conversation especially compelling is Nicolas’ perspective across the full ETA lifecycle. He speaks candidly about what it takes to buy the right business, survive the hard years, professionalize operations, and build a culture that can endure both crisis and scale. 
In this episode, we cover: 

• Why Peru made sense for Colca’s first platform acquisition, and how the team thought about competition, seller dynamics, and regional expansion from day one. 
• Why durable industries, organic tailwinds, and measurable operating levers mattered so much in their original investment thesis. 
• How Colca navigated financing in a market with limited debt options, and why a strong seller note was essential. 
• What the first years of ownership looked like during COVID, from layoffs and cash discipline to building a battle-tested, meritocratic culture. 
• How Nicolas and his partners identified, developed, and promoted talent internally as the business scaled. 
• Why searchers should be deeply involved in the legal and accounting details of a deal, especially when the contract can determine the economics later. 
• The biggest lessons Nicolas has learned as an operator and investor, including why ETA is harder than it looks and why partnership matters more than most people think. 

Some search fund stories are about fit. Melda’s is about conviction.

We caught up with Melda Eren, founder and managing partner of Perennia Capital, whose path into ETA runs through consulting, international growth, and one of the sharpest operating environments in recent years. After helping launch Getir as its first international employee on the ground, Melda brought that experience into a search journey built around long-term ownership, personal branding, and a clear sense of purpose.What makes this conversation especially useful is how practical it is.

Melda speaks candidly about what it really takes to raise capital, source opportunities, build investor trust, and stay grounded when the pace of growth gets uncomfortable.In this episode, we cover:

• How Melda shaped Perennia Capital around her own story, and why she chose not to follow a standard fundraising template.
• Why the UK was the right place for her to build, both as a market and as a long-term home.
• What her experience at Getir taught her about speed, capital allocation, and the hidden cost of aggressive growth.
• How she thinks about proprietary sourcing through trade shows, conferences, and direct owner conversations.
• What she now looks for in a target, including family ownership, culture, fragility, and sustainable growth.
• Why leadership in ETA often comes down to empathy, transparency, and the willingness to do the hard thing.
• The lesson that no amount of preparation replaces the moment you actually start.

What does it take to build a healthcare platform from first principles, and what does that journey reveal about buying, scaling, and operating in ETA? 

We caught up with Yoni Wehbe, co-founder and co-CEO of Kinetico Health, where he leads the group’s operational growth and helps evaluate new partners for the platform. Before Kinetico, Yoni built experience across consulting, investment banking, and investing, including time at BCG and Morgan Stanley, before earning his MBA at Harvard Business School. Together with Claire Nesler, he launched Kinetico Health in 2024 with the acquisition of its first two clinics, and has since been scaling a musculoskeletal care platform in the UK. 

What makes this conversation especially valuable is Yoni’s perspective at the intersection of operator, investor, and serial acquirer. He offers a clear view on what it really takes to build after the deal closes, from setting a North Star, to managing people, to balancing centralized decision-making with local clinic autonomy. 
In this episode, we cover: 

• Why Kinetico chose a roll-up strategy, and what it means to acquire 30, 40, or 50 clinics rather than one business at a time. 

• How Yoni and Claire think about building infrastructure where almost none exists, and why healthcare was the right sector for their ETA journey. 

• The reality of operating a platform versus buying a business, including the mental load, people management, and leadership lessons that come with ownership. 

• What Kinetico looks for in a target today, from classic financial criteria to the harder-to-measure signals of culture and fragility. 

• Why persistence, empathy, and thoughtful outreach matter when sourcing proprietary opportunities in a highly relationship-driven market. 

• The biggest lessons Yoni has learned about doing the hard thing, avoiding emotional attachment to deals, and staying committed to the long game. 

What separates search funds from PE giants - and how can searchers win in succession deals? 

We sat down with Dr. Thomas Buehler of Valmaris Private Investors, a 37-year PE veteran who co-founded Afinum Management, raised €1.8 billion across seven funds, completed 100+ acquisitions, and invested in 95 search funds. Now channeling his expertise into dedicated ETA backing, Thomas shares battle-tested insights from screening 5,000 targets to close 300 deals. 

What makes this episode essential listening: a PE insider's view on ETA edges like instant CEO succession, avoiding emotional deal traps, and his own successful firm handover at 60. 
  
In this episode, expect to take away knowledge of: 

• The keys to acquisition success: growth companies, real sellers, and keeping alternatives alive (never 100% on one deal) 

• Searcher advantages over PE: quick exits, small caps (€10-20M EV), and daily CEO commitment 

• Valmaris' model: flexible investing in people with entrepreneurial spirit, full-journey support from cap tables to exits 

• Investor advice: short PPMs, talk to searchers/investors, prioritize fit for the 7-10 year journey 

• ETA's future: less cyclical succession wave, quality focus amid froth 

What does it take to build an institutional-grade ETA investor from first principles - and why does it matter for every searcher, operator, and investor in this space? 

We caught up with Kieron Chalder and Dr. Gernot Eisinger, returning guests from season 1, who together with Professor Ivana Naumovska and Lukas Krauss, founded INSETA. INSETA is a dedicated platform supporting search fund entrepreneurs across the full acquisition journey. Having recently completed their second and final close at a hard cap of €60 million (oversubscribed), the team has backed over 100 entrepreneurs, invested in more than 40 businesses, and delivered outsized returns for both investors and searchers alike. 

What makes this conversation particularly unique is the composition of INSETA itself: with a private equity veteran, a searcher-turned-CEO, an INSEAD academic, and an operator-investor, each brings a distinct and complementary lens to the same challenge. 

 In this episode, we cover: 

• How INSEAD's classrooms and community gave rise to INSETA, and what the name itself signals about its DNA 

• INSETA's full-lifecycle model: cap table construction, LOI support, due diligence structuring, board building, and PE-informed exit positioning 

• The common threads in INSETA-backed successes; grit and fit; and why "buying a business for buying a business only will never be a success" 

• How investor-operator partnerships work at their best: trust, transparency, and knowing when to step back 

•  Where the ETA landscape is heading — hint: greater institutionalisation, AI-driven sourcing, and continued global expansion. 

Alexander Simmons doesn't do polish - and that's exactly why this conversation matters. We had to cut some real gems on account of Kudirat's maniacal laughter.

Alex is the founder of Voyager Equity, Australia's very first traditional search fund, launched in 2019 when the model was virtually unknown Down Under. After raising capital, conducting a rigorous search, and navigating COVID-era complications, he acquired Inerva Software in November 2021—marking Australia's first traditional search fund acquisition. Inerva provides cloud-based accounting, payroll, and HR software exclusively for Australia's aged care, home care, and retirement village sectors.  

What makes Alex particularly special is his refreshing honesty and humor. He's never afraid to tell it like it is, share the messy middle, or admit that "you look back and you're terrified, absolutely terrified looking back by how little you knew".  

This is an unfiltered, no-prep conversation about what it actually takes to be first-to-market in a new geography, transition from searcher to CEO, and keep reinventing yourself as the business outgrows your skillset.  

In this episode, we cover: 

• Why Alex left private equity ("you can't score a goal if you're just owning the football team")  

• The reality of fundraising in Australia with no local search fund ecosystem  

• Why his first deck was "the world's worst"—and why that was intentional  

• How COVID nearly derailed his deal (spoiler: he had to fly to Byron Bay before Sydney locked down)  

• The transition from searcher to operator: comms, HR, and constant reinvention  

• Why searchers need to stop obsessing over valuation multiples  

In Season 1, Episode 1, Monika joined the INSEAD Entrepreneurship-through-Acquisition & Search Funds podcast as Poland’s first female-led search fund founder, sharing her early fundraising and search journey.

In this Season 2 follow-up, we catch up in person at the INSEAD ETA Conference in Singapore (November 2025), just after she completed the acquisition of Rolfroz.​This is an extra in-depth, highly practical conversation on the real mechanics of getting a deal over the line - when timelines are tight, parties multiply, and the emotional stakes are high.

Monika walks through what surprised her most, what she would do differently, and the habits that helped her stay calm and credible throughout the process.​In this episode, we cover:

• How she knew Rolfroz was “the one” (even though it wasn’t in her original search thesis)​
• Why sellers decide in the first meeting - and how to build rapport without losing leverage​
• How to manage deal-making beyond due diligence (financing, board, investor comms, transaction workstreams)​
• Why weekly seller calls can prevent negotiations from derailing - and how she handled a moment where lawyers “pushed too far”​
• Negotiating with banks and improving financing terms (yes - you can negotiate)​
• Her philosophy on compromise, walk-away points, and staying true to your values​

In this episode of the INSEAD ETA & Search Funds Hub podcast, host Kudirat Olateju speaks with Rob LeBlanc, co-founder of Ambit Partners, about the roles of entrepreneurship through acquisition and small business in driving economic change and positive impact.

In Rob’s journey around the world, he has seen how search funds can be powerful vehicles for directing private capital into shallow markets. Drawing on his experience with Ambit, Rob talks through the intersection of impact and ETA, sharing the various ways he has seen impact in action; answering if how a business is run - its people decisions, culture, and operational standards - can measure up to what the business does; and if ETA operators have to choose between commercial success or positive impact.  

Grounded yet forward-looking, this episode is a playbook for delivering “impact” for aspiring business leaders and impact-seeking investors. 

00:00 Introduction to Rob LeBlanc and ETA 
01:07 Rob's Journey: From Canada to Global Impact 
04:12 The Role of Small Businesses in Economic Development 
07:59 Search Funds and Emerging Markets 
10:15 Impact Narratives in Search Fund Proposals 
12:10 The Concentric Circles of Impact 
16:13 Balancing Impact and Commercial Viability 
20:53 Finding Impact-Aligned Investors 
21:52 Navigating the Impact Landscape 
27:11 Operational Strategies for Impact-Driven Businesses 
30:23 Understanding Challenges in Search Investments 
31:24 The Role of People in Impact-Oriented Businesses 
36:32 Building a Sustainable Ecosystem for Search Funds 
39:35 The Future of Impact and Entrepreneurship

The search fund model is no longer a North American story.

In this episode of the INSEAD ETA & Search Funds Hub podcast, host Kudirat Olateju speaks with Andrew Locke and Neil Wyma; both INSEAD alumni and partners at Ambit, about how they're backing exceptional entrepreneurs across Europe, Latin America, APAC, and the Middle East. Their journey began at INSEAD, where they first heard Will Thorndike and Simon Webster speak about search funds, sparking a collaboration that would eventually become Ambit six years ago.

Andrew and Neil break down Ambit's "Talent First" philosophy: they don't choose geographies or industries upfront; instead, they back the best talent and let searchers define their own markets and career paths. This approach has led to a globally diversified portfolio, with roughly half their investments in Europe, 20% in Latin America, and growing activity in the Middle East, India, and Brazil. They explain how they evaluate searchers while layering in additional criteria for newer markets, including local networks and quality cap tables.

The conversation explores what makes search fund cap tables unique; and Andrew and Neil share patterns they've observed in successful searches. They also candidly discuss the emotional reality of searching. Closing their oversubscribed $60 million Fund II has allowed Ambit to expand their team, and continue to see the search fund industry evolve; which they share the details behind.

Grounded, insightful, and full of real-world lessons, this episode captures what it takes to build companies and careers through ETA in markets all over the world.


Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
01:22 Journey into the Search Fund Ecosystem
04:05 Understanding Ambit Partners and Its Model
06:08 Searcher-First Approach in Emerging Markets
10:59 Evaluating Searchers: Key Criteria for Success
13:39 Ambit Portfolio Overview and Regional Insights
18:06 Patterns of Success in Search Funds
26:15 Balancing Traditional Criteria with Market Realities
29:03 Learnings from Fund One and Future Directions
33:47 Parting Advice for Aspiring Searchers